Ration the Reasons
by The PalletShipping Ninja
Summary: Kadma/Halinor. On the first night of being stripped of their powers, Kadma and Halinor reflect.


On the first night of being stripped of their powers, Kadma and Halinor reflect.

 _Ration the Reasons_

They landed on Earth with much less brutality than they had expected. Witnessing the Oracle's rage had left them wondering whether he would deposit them in the ocean, just far out enough from Shell Beach to be thoroughly soaked, or face down into a sidewalk. When they had landed outside of the Heatherfield Observatory, their feet touching down on dew-soaked grass, they had arrived without any harm. A last gesture of caring inflicted by such a pathetic Oracle.

"What do we do now?" asked Halinor, shivering.

They were no longer clad in their congregation robes; they had also been stripped of them with their powers, and Kadma saw she was in the thin blue nightgown she had been wearing when Yan Lin had collected her from her room, shaken by the news of Cassidy's death. Kadma was in her brother's old plaid pyjamas. Yan Lin hadn't mentioned at any point that Kadma and Halinor had been curled up closer than two girls should be when she awoke them with her cries. She probably hadn't fully registered it. If she did now, would it even matter? Nerissa and Cassidy had been cruelly taken from them by fate, and the guardians would cease to exist.

"I don't know," Kadma said honestly. She reached over and took Halinor's hand.

Would the world last to see the dawning of the next generation of guardians, or would it be consumed by the outweighing evil in the process? She wished she had been able to ask the Oracle these questions before her and Halinor had spoken up, but maybe she could write a letter asking Yanny to ask on their behalf (maybe not to mention that to the Oracle though, lest he refuse to answer).

"I can't even create a flame on my fingertips," Halinor continued, flexing her free hand to prove it. "I can't do anything anymore. He really _did_ remove us from Kandrakar for good, Kadma."

She sounded numb, as though she couldn't quite believe it had happened. Kadma found it a little easier to believe. She had always butted heads with the Oracle to a degree, spoken out of turn at times. Nerissa, shy at first but soon becoming confident in herself, joined in at times, though she would also pull Kadma back when the signs of irritation on the Oracle's face began to show. She knew she was often inconsiderate of others, but she had never truly trusted him. And in the end, she was right not to.

Tonight was the first time Halinor had joined in. Often it was Halinor who took her aside and calmed her when she grew frustrated at the Oracle's vague demands and uneasily deciphered messages, but this time she had cried for Cassidy and Nerissa and she had _fought_. Yan Lin had begged them to stop. They had ignored her. In turn, she was the only guardian of the veil who had survived to continue serving the congregation and their twisted views.

"Should we have stopped?" Halinor asked quietly, dazed. "Should we have kept quiet? Were we wrong to question him?"

"No, never!" Kadma pulled Halinor into a hug, shivering uncontrollably herself. "We did all we could! He knew Nerissa would have... he let Cassidy _die_ , Halinor!"

"No," moaned Halinor, and she gave into the tears pricking her eyes, allowing them to dampen Kadma's shoulder. "Cassidy was the youngest, she didn't – why couldn't he have just-"

"He is a twisted Oracle. A bad man," Kadma said fiercely, also choking back her tears. "Our anger was justified. Cassidy was our friend and he let her die!"

"Nerissa was also our friend," Halinor wept, and Kadma held her a little closer; it was no secret between the two of them that Halinor had once harboured feelings for their former friend, and she had taken her corruption a lot more personally than the rest of them. She had all but collapsed in Kadma's arms after the news. "She was also our friend, and he didn't help her at all. If the power of the heart was corrupting her he should have done something about it, not just push the burden onto Cassidy!"

"I know," Kadma said with a ragged sigh, pulling Halinor even closer to her. "I know, Hal."

When they eventually parted, they looked up at the sky and saw a new star shining, twinkling as though it had always belonged. It winked at them, with the cheek of the spirit it now held.

"Cassidy," they murmured, almost simultaneously, and teared up again.

They were beginning to freeze on the cold wet grass, their feet already numb, so Kadma took Halinor by the hand and took her back to her house. She didn't want to go back home, not tonight; on top of all that had happened, her parents wouldn't be expecting her back at three in the morning, and she could never leave Halinor alone this distressed. They needed to stick together now that they were ostracised from Kandrakar. Soon Kadma's hair would stop naturally smelling of roses, and Halinor's body would never be quite as pleasantly warm as it had been when she had fire burning within her. They needed to love one another more fiercely than ever.

When they were under the safety of Halinor's covers they began to cry once more, for Cassidy, for Nerissa, for the loss of their powers and the Oracle's grace, for the rift that would undoubtedly bloom between Yanny and themselves. Tangled up together, bodies closely bundled, they cried themselves to sleep.

…

"Do you think Nerissa's gotten more confident lately?" Yan Lin piped up one afternoon. They all looked up from their copies of Othello, curiously. They had been trying to power through the first act for the past few hours, but every time they picked up where they had left off they would stop mere moments later at Kadma's frustrated groans of, "Shakespearian language is stupid and I hate it," closely followed by Halinor's agreement and Cassidy's added comment of, "Shakespeare is for squares."

It was raining, and usually that called for their study group to congregate and attempt to cram for a few hours (and usually end up gossiping about everything under the sun, which often included guardian business as well as the usual Sheffield rumours). However, Nerissa had yet to show up, so they found themselves free of guardian duties for the time being. Halinor had contacted her telepathically and casually replied a few minutes after Nerissa was in the middle of practising her flute for the upcoming recital. It was no secret that she was in the school concert band, but this would be her first time performing a solo piece, so she was focused in perfecting it.

"I guess so, now that you mention it," Cassidy agreed, chewing on the end of her pencil. "Me and Nerissa have lived on the same block since we were five, and she's really come out of her shell since becoming a guardian. I guess you never do know with some people what'll cause them to change."

"This time last year she'd never audition for the solo part, much less actually get it," Kadma mused. They blinked, and she added quickly, "Not that I don't believe in Nerissa's skills, we all know she's good. But it feels like recently she's started to realise how good she is too."

"I guess the Oracle saw her hidden potential first," Cassidy said with a wistful smile on her face. "Though I always knew she was special. It just took until becoming a guardian for her to believe me."

"I don't know if it's a good thing, though," Yan Lin said, folding her arms a little uncomfortably. "I'm glad Nerissa has more faith in herself, but sometimes I see her pull out the heart at school and gaze at it for ages. Like it's connecting to her. I don't want her to solely depend on it to build her up, because what if something happens and she doesn't have it anymore? She'll be crushed."

"Don't be weird, Yanny," Halinor said all too defensively, with a pointed look at her. "Nerissa's always been shy, so we should be happy for her. And what would she do, anyway? She couldn't hurt a fly – unless it was evil and from the other side of a portal, of course."

"Nerissa has a good heart," Cassidy said, lying back with her battered copy of Othello resting on her stomach. She closed her eyes. "I don't think we have anything to worry about with her. She's a good sort."

"Right? Are we all in agreement to stop suspecting her of raising the dead or whatever?" Kadma demanded, and Yan Lin shrank back, resigning with a sigh and lying down beside Cassidy. "Nerissa is our friend. Stop worrying about her."

"Aye," Cassidy said.

"Aye," Yan Lin agreed reluctantly.

"Aye," echoed Halinor. "Have a little faith in her. Like Cassidy said, she's a good sort."

…

Kadma awoke to the rain again, tangled in Halinor's arms, and for the first few seconds she lay in bliss, breathing in the scent of the other, holding her closer. Then she remembered, and the world ended again.

"K," murmured Halinor when she awoke to the tensing of the body in her arms, "hey, Kadma, what-"

"I woke up and I remembered," Kadma choked, and then it was Halinor's turn to come to realise. They both lay in their tears and distress, knowing time and love wouldn't be enough to heal them this time.

* * *

Kalinor is such a hidden gem, I don't understand why out of the limited W.I.T.C.H. femslash on the internet Kadma/Halinor is practically nonexistent. Why? They were friends and guardians together, they fought for the same cause after Cassidy's death, they stood by one another after being banished and having their powers stripped... heck, they opened up an orphanage and grew old together! They went beyond the realm of gal pals in my eyes; I mean, the only reason Kadma even let Will and Hay Lin in originally was because of Halinor's dying wishes. That's gotta count for something. (Title was taken from Nick Mulvey's song Fever to the Form.)


End file.
